Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/55151948
Afterwards I did the podium and then went on a small but nice bike ride with the wife. I also would like to thank her for encouraging me through this race, as well as *jokingly* giving me false motivation about being first (really hon, I am kidding!).
Let me be honest here, I
was not planning on racing at all this weekend. Especially since I rode 40
miles on Friday for the Bike2Work Day event (in which I just biked to a day off
of work). Anyway my wife and I met up with Paul Tarter and his wife on Friday and immediately
Paul and I went out for a course recon pre-ride. This was my first time seeing
Rocky Gap from the other side of the lake and I must admit now I know why they
call it Rocky Gap. The course had some pretty steep climbs, somewhat thin
single track, a few rolling hilly parts, a soul sucking road climb, a really
big soul sucking rocky hill climb (I think it’s called “Evitt’s Revenge”), a
couple technical rock crossings, and about three crazy rocky downhill runs!
They also had a small side step trail because a 25 foot portion of the course was
literally hub deep in mud. So they had to route alongside it, in which that too
became a sloppy mess by the third hour of the race. The rest of the course
pretty much ran along the lakefront it was a slim single track with some
areas wide enough for racers to pass if needed. The slope was a little intimidating
at times, but then again I really thought about going for a swim at one point.
The waterfront trails provided to be a little testing since they had a decent
amount of roots and some small muddy spots. Also the trails were open to
everyone, so there was the occasional bystander either cheering you on or
dashing to get off the trail. When climbing out of the lake side area the
terrain turned to a rocky and at times wet/muddy mess, the rocks were loose on
the down hills and pretty solid going up, minus the crazy steep muddy mess of
Evitt’s Revenge.
On the pre-ride I
handled most of these pretty well only the steep rocky climb and the two rock
crossings got me. But taking my time Paul and I finished the pre-ride in 1hr on
the dot.
On to the ironic part! I
saw they had a three hour solo race going on at the same time, and since I knew
I could endure one hour of the course and that I could take a beating from the
time spent at the Bakers Dozen, I starting to think I should sign up. Of course
it didn't help that Paul did a little Jedi mind trick of his own...
So after much
consideration and $105 spent, and on the day of the race mind you, I grabbed my
bike, my gear, and signed up. I had pretty much everything I needed and if I
didn't I could borrow from Paul Tarter.
The 9-Hour guys started
off first at 1000 and the 3-Hour started off 20 mins later. I carried my tool,
a bottle of water, a couple Cliff Shots and Cliff Bars, and some luck.
When we were off I did
what I could to stay near the front without trying to tire myself out and for
the most part I held onto that for some time! I also realized, during the first road climb, I forgot to start my Garmin when we were released. I really pushed hard on my first
lap to get a significant gap between me and everyone else, but it didn't last
long because a small group of three caught up to me right as we go to the road
climb. After they passed me I decided to just enjoy the race since I knew I
probably wouldn't catch them, even if they weren't in my racing category. So I
eased up a bit and helped several racers along the route with mechanicals while
letting the 9-Hour racers fly by. Not to mention the most awesomest high-speed “Bones-Explode”
when Paul blew by!
On a side note I was kind of
disappointed at some of the team racers out there, the majority of the people
racing were encouraging, patient, and great, but there were a few who would get
behind me and get irate with my speed saying, "You're killing my time,
etc..." which is kind of annoying because I'm not you, sir, and I am not
racing as a duo/trio... So please, with all due respect, chill eff' out. As for
teams like The Bike Lane, Crosshairs, and SBR... You guys were helpful, and I
thank you for that.
Off my soapbox now,
being that I was doing a three hour race I felt that I had to at least get in
three laps, which I did and they were all around an hour per lap, though mad
kudos to the guy who got in four! I think my most difficult area was the climb and
out of three laps I was only able to successfully bike up it once, after that I
heard someone mention that it was just as quick to walk it with not nearly as
much effort. So I tried on my second lap to bike up it, in which I only made it halfway by the third lap I just walked since it was a muddy/rocky mess.
Speaking of my third
lap, since I was taking it a moderately fast pace, I figured I was kind of in
the middle of the pack until I returned from my second lap. When I stopped my
wife and Leesa both told me that I was leading in first place and the second
place guy was two minutes behind me. I was shocked, mocking the idea really
that I was doing so well… so I refilled my water bottle and took off like a bat
out of hell! I pushed it really hard on my third lap, especially when I saw one
person pass me with a two digit number!!! I couldn't read his calf to determine
if he was in my category or not but I didn't want to take the chance that he
was my competitor for first place so I hung on him as hard as I could till the
last quarter mile, in I asked and then politely passed him… then I nailed it
into warp 9.8 to the end, so much that I almost passed out at the finish line.
I felt great! I didn’t believe
I did so well and I felt better than I helped so many people along the way and
was still able to pull ahead. Unfortunately that feeling didn't last long, when
the race officials realized that they gave me the wrong chip and someone else
had mine… so I went from first to fourth in a matter of ten minutes. No worries
though, because in reality I was just happy to do as well as I did and even
better yet help everyone else who needed a spare tube, CO2, or a little
encouragement along the way. So I as
extremely satisfied with fourth considering all my riding during the week off
the race and my serious lack of preparedness.
My nutrition was sparse
to say the least, I ate somewhat little while relying more on just water and
the Gatorade at the midway station. I'll make sure to pay better attention to
that next time, but really what can go wrong in three hours other than
dehydration or low electrolytes?
Afterwards I did the podium and then went on a small but nice bike ride with the wife. I also would like to thank her for encouraging me through this race, as well as *jokingly* giving me false motivation about being first (really hon, I am kidding!).
Anyway it was a great
race, the course was awesome and I had an amazing time! Though I am considering
whether to do the 3-Hour Cranky Monkey at Quantico… I’m a sucker for torture!
